


Prophecy

by theBitchTornado



Series: Daughter of the Dark One [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Death, Gen, Lonliness, Prophecies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 11:45:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6078156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theBitchTornado/pseuds/theBitchTornado
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Namesake. Emma Gold has found a place by her parents' side and she couldn't be happier. Everything is going well; after two years, Emma even has a friend in Roland Hood. But there is still a shame and fear that she will turn Dark like her father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prophecy

“Okay, now slowly, transform this cup into a candle,” Rumplestiltskin ordered Emma. She flashed him a smile, turned around, and voila! there was a burning candle. Emma stepped back and enjoyed her handiwork.  
“Not bad,” said her father. “Not bad at all.” She smirked. She could tell he was impressed.  
It’s been two years since she found out her parentage and all she did since then was to learn to control her magic. It wasn’t easy, with Rumplestiltskin’s power gone, but he had developed very weak magic, just enough to train his daughter. She progressed very far, even further than he thought she would.  
Belle came in, saw the candle and turned to Emma. “Good job,” she said. Emma beamed under the impressed gaze of her parents.  
“I can do even more,” she casually said. Rumplestiltskin tore his gaze away from Belle to Emma. “You can?”  
Emma nodded.  
“Then show me!” he cried, “Why am I keeping you in the beginner stages if you can do more?”  
“Because you’re afraid?” Emma teasingly asked. Her father gave her an unamused look and she laughed.  
“Alright, alright, I’ll show you!” She turned towards the bookshelf, focused her feelings and suddenly, a book flew towards them. Belle and Rumplestiltskin instinctively ducked down. But it didn’t fly at them. Instead, it stopped in midair, opened up to a page, and out flew three tropical birds, a yellow, blue and green one. They all flew out the window.  
She turned to face her parents and inquisitively looked at them. Both of them tried hard not to show how impressed they were. She smiled at their reaction to her skills. She knew it was beyond what they expected her to do at this stage.  
Magic for her was easy to learn, but at the same time, it was so much more complicated than she ever thought it would be. There were potions, magical items, spell books, transformations, defense and offense spells. There were so many spells that she had to learn without a demonstration, as her father’s very weak magic couldn’t do them. She was mostly on her own. Her father usually devoted two hours of instruction time every day, because after that, his powers were depleted. It was hard to learn on her own, at first, but she would surpass anything he was capable of at the height of his powers.  
There was a ping at the window. Then another. Then again. Emma almost flew to it. A pebble almost missed her when she opened and looked out of it.  
The pebble thrower was Roland.  
“What do you want?” she cried out to him.  
“May I see you?” he yelled back. She looked back inside and her parents were quietly conversing among themselves. She walked past them and they at once turned their attention towards her.  
“It’s Roland,” she said by way of an explanation. Belle at once adopted her knowing look and her father had a small smile on his face.  
“What?” she asked, confused.  
“Nothing, dearie. You can go; the lesson is finished for today.”  
“Alright,” she said slowly and walked down the steps of the library. She grabbed her cloak and ran out to meet Roland.  
In the two years since their confrontation, he forgave her for welding him into a tree. They hugged and walked to the great tree in the meadow, him pulling his horse along and she tucking in a small knife into her belt. She never knew when she might need it. She had magic, but she was always afraid of using it around Roland. No matter how many times he assured her that he forgave her, she was suspicious that once he found out just how powerful she was, he would never want to be around her again.  
They settled under the tree and she finally asked, “So why are you here this time? Has the Prince sent you to spy on us again?” He shrugged.  
“No, this time no one sent me.” She felt a strange elation.  
“Then why are you here?” she asked.  
“Just to see you,” he simply said. They talked, he about his duties protecting the Prince, and she about her reading. She didn’t tell him about her success of the book, because she didn’t trust that he would stay afterwards. It was hers, Belle’s and Rumplestiltskin’s secret. Everyone in the Enchanted Forest knew that he had lost his powers, and that he had a daughter, but no one knew of that daughter’s abilities. They didn’t know what would happen if word got out.  
They spoke for hours, he freely, she guardedly. He brought bread and they munched on it while they caught up. Finally, the sun began to set and Roland said, “I have something to tell you.”  
She squinted her eyes, “What?”  
“I know that you’re practicing magic.”  
She laughed it off. “That’s not true.”  
Roland glanced at her and said, “I know it is. I saw you in the window.”  
She jumped up. “And so what?” she spat. “What does it matter if I do? Did you expect me not to learn, to not be able to control my magic?”  
Roland stood up and tried to calm her. “I just want to know why you didn’t tell me. I thought I was your closest friend. I wouldn’t think you were evil, it wasn’t Dark Magic that I saw you do! I’m just hurt.”  
Her hands started trembling and to relive her anger, she tossed up her knife and it sailed into one of the branches. It missed Roland by a long shot, but still, he was shocked by the display. The knife wasn’t erratically airborne; it smoothly sailed through the air, like it belonged. It was clear, concise magic that propelled it. And despite his promise, he was scared. He hated magic, ever since her dead brother used him as bait for the Shadow.  
Emma was distraught. She knew she wasn’t to blame; she couldn’t have known that he was under the window right the second when she cast the book spell. She flung herself down next to Roland, and he subconsciously edged away from her. He sensed waves of magic rolling from her, powerful blasts. They spent another hour together, and then he made an excuse to get away from her. He was desperate to be as far from the Dark One’s castle as he possibly could.  
She stayed at the same place until it grew dark and she summoned the knife and walked back home. She entered the castle and heard her parents laughing in the hall upstairs. She decided to avoid them and magically appeared in her bedroom.  
***  
The next morning, one of her tropical birds came back with two rolls of parchment. One was an invitation, and the other was an apology from Roland. She took the invitation to her mother, who was reading in the library, seated on a sill by the window.  
“Mother,” Emma called out, walking over to Belle. Belle looked up and took the invitation from Emma’s hands.  
“What’s this?” she asked. She read it quickly and said, “We are invited to a ball…to celebrate Prince Neal’s twenty second birthday…tomorrow night?” She looked over to the confused young woman, and lighted up.  
“Your first ball! Oh, I’m so excited!” Emma edged away.  
“A ball? With people dancing? No thank you…” Belle didn’t notice, she took her daughter’s hand and twirled her around.  
“A ball!” Emma stepped backwards.  
“I don’t want to go. I don’t know how to dance and won’t it be crowded?” Emma hated crowds.  
“I will teach you to dance!” Belle stopped turning around. She took Emma’s hand. “I know you don’t much like the royal family, but you will like it, I promise. And I will give you my old ball gown.”  
“Your yellow one?” Emma asked.  
“Yes.”  
“But why?”  
“Because…let’s just say, it’s my lucky dress.” Emma looked confused and Belle just smiled.  
“Now let’s tell Rumple.”  
Belle went down the stairs and Emma stared at her mother’s retreating back, surprised. Her mother never seemed so excited. She followed her mother into the great hall, where Rumplestiltskin was at his wheel, spinning. He saw Emma and motioned her over.  
“Try spinning this to gold,” he said. Emma sat down at his bench and focused her attention on the wheel, going over her disastrous meeting with Roland yesterday. While she was so occupied, her mother was filling Rumplestiltskin on the invitation. He didn’t look happy about it either, but he agreed just to please Belle.  
And so, they were going to the ball.  
***  
The palace where the ball was to be held was only a half day’s journey from their home, on the south side of the kingdom. They arrived two hours before the ball was to start and there were servants milling around, preparing. Princess Emma was standing near the railing with her husband, Captain Hook. They greeted her mother affectionately, her father with caution, and Emma with some respect. They didn’t know anything of her magic, but knew of her journey.  
Emma walked away while the Princess spoke with her parents. It was a beautiful palace.  
The ball started and the guests looked tiny to Emma, who was at the top of the stairs. Her dress rustled uncomfortably as she descended the steps. Roland was at the bottom of the steps, and he took her hand.  
“You look beautiful,” he said. She nodded her thanks and tried to walk away from him. He kept a hold on her hand.  
“Look,” he began, “I’m sorry. I was being ridiculous.” She nodded in agreement and tried to go away again.  
“May I have this dance?” he asked. She cautiously agreed.  
He led her out to the dance floor, where her parents danced. They still looked so much in love, even after everything they have been through. He wore a blue jacket and she a green gown.  
Emma and Roland danced until there was a call to dinner, and then he walked her to the terrace. It was a warm night, and they sat for a while in silence. He began to speak.  
“I’m sorry. I know that you are not evil.” She sighed dramatically and edged away.  
“I have a bad history with magic, and it’s hard for me to forget my past with it.”  
“Go on.”  
“And try as I might, I can’t forget that you pinned me to a tree.”  
“I couldn’t control it then.”  
“Yes, but you could barely control it two days ago.”  
She furiously turned to face him.  
“Yes I could. You saw with your own eyes how controlled the knife flew. It was the only way to use up my pent up anger.”  
“I’m sorry, please don’t be….”  
“Sorry?! If you were sorry, then you wouldn’t have brought it up again. If I couldn’t control my magic, then you would have been hit with the knife!”  
“But why use the knife at all?”  
“What are you trying to say to me?” she accused.  
“Nothing…”  
“Nothing? You can never forget that incident even now, when I can finally control myself?” Her hands started to shake and he scooted away. She noticed.  
“Do you think I’m a danger to you?” Her eyes flashed and she used her hands to levitate the stone bench. His eyes widened and he edged away even further.  
“No, Emma, calm…”  
“Calm? When you accuse me of using Dark Magic, I should calm myself?”  
“Yes, could you…”  
Her voice deepened, “Don’t tell me to calm down!”  
The little bit of conversation that she heard in the palace stopped. She turned around and she saw several come out of the dining hall to locate the source of the voice. Humiliated, she put down the bench and stared at her hands in horror. She collapsed. Everyone knew her secret now.  
She heard footsteps behind her and she turned around to see Roland run away from her, and that Belle was standing behind her.  
“Do you wish to leave?” Belle asked. Emma nodded and they fled away from the ball.  
Over the next week, Emma wouldn’t leave her room, crying out the situation that she caused. She blamed herself and nothing could help her. She started to cry and then something in the room would change. Her parents were worried. Finally, she came out and started to practice again, like nothing happened. She spent all day practicing magic and would only stop for meals and sleep.  
It continued for months. No visits ever came, and her birthday came and went without her noticing. She grew more and more powerful and soon, she did indeed surpass her father’s power at the height of his reign as the Dark One.  
And as she grew more powerful, she stopped aging. Her parents grew older every day but she remained 21, even though the years passed. She didn’t realize it until two years later when she passed herself in the mirror. Her twenty third birthday would be the very next day, but she didn’t look a day over twenty one. She inspected her mouth, hair and eyes. She didn’t change. She looked over at her parents. Her father looked frail and her mother had streaks in her hair. Emma shook her head to clear her vision, but nothing changed.  
“How much time has passed since the ball?” she asked her mother in a raspy voice.  
“About two and a half years,” Belle replied, surprised. Emma widened her eyes in wonder. She turned to the mirror again.  
“It can’t be,” she whispered. She touched her face. It wasn’t any paler than it was the day of the ball. She never went outside anymore. It was too humiliating for her.  
She began asking her parents about those two years that passed.  
“What happened to Roland?” the delicate question was whispered.  
“I heard he is married.” Came the cautious answer.  
“What happened to Prince Neal?”  
“He is to be King soon. King James died last week.”  
“How?”  
“Accident. Queen Snow is too distraught to rule the realm now.”  
Emma nodded absentmindedly, and walked over to the window. She couldn’t believe it. Her parents followed her with their eyes. Rumplestiltskin was frightened that she would be a recluse like he was, frightened away from the world because of shame and Belle was afraid that she would live a loveless life. They were together and Belle knew that love transformed the most evil of people. But they would die soon.  
Emma was stuck in wonder. What did it mean to not age? She wordlessly ran to the library in search of answers. She spent hours up there, so much that the sun set and rose before her search was rewarded.  
The volume where the answers were was up on the highest shelf and she summoned the book tiredly. She began to flip through it when she found:  
“…Magic. It is the most powerful of all; only certain people are called to the task of keeping it. In the case of inheritance, if one with the Darkest magic has issue with his/her true love, then that child has the most powerful magic in all the realms. But this kind of magic has a price. Should this magic be developed, the one with this magic is immortal and cannot be killed, like the Dark One. This magic is purely innate and has no external keeper, like the Dagger of the Dark One. Once the person in question begins to use this magic, they will stop aging forever. This curse may only be broken by true love’s kiss…”  
She felt faint. She sat down in her chair and stared at the passage. This is why she stopped noticing time, why she stopped aging.  
And so, the years went by. She kept it a secret from her parents, instead trying to spend as much time with them as possible. Her parents grew frailer and Rumplestiltskin died, much to the heartbreak of Belle. Nobody could pull her away from her husband’s body for days. Emma was numb with grief. She only yesterday, she felt, found him and now he was gone.  
More deaths occurred. The royal family she barely knew depleted in their numbers. Queen Snow died, then very soon after, Princess Emma and then two years later, Captain Hook. Twenty years from then, Prince Henry, another ten, King Neal. Everytime someone died, she was called up to help with the burial. She didn’t find out about Roland until much later. He had died around the same time as Henry did.  
Every new death hit her hard. She was all alone and after Neal’s grandson was crowned, she finally made good on her promise, made fifty years ago on her mother’s death bed, that she would leave her gloomy castle and travel to other worlds.  
She packed sparingly, taking her mother’s blue dress, her father’s vest, two cloaks, three other dresses, and a small box filled with trinkets.  
She walked out to the meadow and disappeared after one last look at the big tree, still with its knife scar.  
She arrived at a valley surrounded by mountains. It was peaceful and the air carried the smell of flowers. There were no villages in sight. Emma took one look and laughed. Goodbye Enchanted Forest! Hello new worlds! She walked and spun around, feeling the fresh air in her hair.  
After a while, she saw someone fly towards her. It looked like a man with winged sandals. He was holding something in his hand and he waved the object around angrily.  
He landed and aggressively walked towards her, glaring.  
“Who are you!?” he boomed. She didn’t answer, just stared at him.  
“Who are you?!” he repeated himself. She straightened her back.  
“Who are you?” she haughtily replied. He stopped, in shock. It was obvious that he was unused to having someone speak thusly to him. He was caught off guard.  
“I’m….My name is Hermes. Messenger of the Gods.” He bowed, and looked at her in confusion.  
Emma smiled sweetly. “Emma Gold.” She curtseyed. He was at first surprised and then tried to cover it up.  
“Daughter of the Dark One?” he asked. Emma nodded, suspicious.  
“How do you know who I am?” she asked.  
“Never mind how I know. Now, if you please,” Hermes tried to usher her towards the highest mountain.  
“What are you doing?” she asked. He tried to take her but she was too quick for him. She pulled him down roughly, and threw him down and held him.  
“Now, what are you doing and why?” she asked in her sweetest voice. He grew frightened and struggled against her foot. She pressed down even harder. Finally, he gave up.  
“There was a prophecy! That a woman, you, daughter of the Dark One, would come to us, and destroy the Fates. And there’s a second one. Zeus, the King of the Gods, has been waiting for you. He wants the Fates destroyed and their eye in his possession. He wants the eye because it holds all of the prophecies ever made and so that he will be the most powerful one in all the worlds. He wanted me to bring you to him so that he and you can make a deal.” He was trembling and she finally removed her foot.  
“What’s the deal that he wants to make?”  
“He says that if you bring the eye to him and destroy the Fates, he will make you a Goddess, and not only that, replace his wife Hera, with you.” Emma began to pace and then was struck with a thought.  
“Why can’t he just do this himself?”  
“The Fates, long knowing what he wanted, put up a powerful barrier in the entrance to their cave to protect themselves. But if the rumors are true, then you will be able to break that barrier.”  
“And if I refuse his generous offer?”  
“Then he will trap you in this valley for all of eternity, with fire all around it.” She giggled and he writhed with discomfort at the sound.  
She thought for a moment and said, “I’ll do it.” Hermes got up, and bowed.  
“I’ll tell the Most High of your decision.”  
He flew away and she was left to determine where the cave was. It took her a solid two days to find it. It was in the opposite direction of Mt. Olympus, and she was tired. She decided to rest in another, smaller cave, for several hours. Then, refreshed, she flew herself to the cave.  
There was indeed a powerful barrier, shiny yellowed strings of different lengths floating around and sizzling. She first simply tried to walk through it, but she felt the full force of the barrier and stepped backwards. Before she began dismantling it, she muffled herself, so that anyone inside or outside would not hear the commotion. She cupped her hands and sucked at the barrier. It was slow work; it took almost an hour to break it down. But break it down she did, and then she stepped into the cool cave.  
The three hags were spinning at their wheels, mumbling to themselves. One of them looked over and noticed a cloaked figure at the mouth.  
“Ah yes. We have been expecting you, Emma Gold.” Her voice was a whisper, and it was obvious that she hadn’t used it for hundreds of years.  
“I am here for my prophecy,” Emma said in a high, clear voice. The Fate with the eye motioned her over.  
“Come and sit here,” she invited Emma to sit on a rotting bench. The two others began to chant. “Fate has called you…has called you…to sit here…and listen. Listen, listen, listen.” The one with the eyeball took it out of her socket and held it out on her palm. It began to swirl around and finally it rested on her.  
“Your immortality has given you much sorrow, but there’s more to come…you will meet three sisters who will become your own. Your power will grow and there will be many who wish to destroy you. The one will destroy your power will be a mere mortal. The only way your power will be destroyed is through another’s weakness.”  
The hag was silent. Emma again muffled herself and then to make a copy of the eye. She put the real one in her pocket and took the copy as well. She then woke them up and they noticed that the eye they had was a fake.  
They rose to fight her synchronized and started pelting her with fire. She simply blocked the fire and turned it towards them, which turned them to ash. She took the copy and summoned Hermes. She gave him the copy and then after turning him temporarily blind, disappeared, knowing that as soon as she left, he would deliver the copy to Zeus.  
She arrived in a dark, damp, forest, as unlike her home as the sea. She took out the eye, and it spun around until it pointed behind her, to which she took to mean that she should walk behind her to where the eye pointed.  
She walked for days, looking over her surroundings. She thought about the three sisters. Who were they? Why did it matter?  
She would find out. Occasionally, the eye would spin and point in a different direction, and she followed the eye.  
Finally, after a week, she came to a dark clearing. There was blood everywhere. As Emma advanced along the clearing, she saw corpses and skeletons scattered about. The hags had not told her what the three sisters were like. She put a protection spell on herself.  
When she approached the castle, she felt eyes upon her. She caught a glimpse of a red pair. She felt scared, but swallowed her fear. She entered the castle.  
It was alight with candles. More pools of blood surrounded her. There were whispers of “who is she?” and “lunch”. She felt wind around her neck. She saw a pale ghost. Her hands started to form in a fist.  
There was a laugh and suddenly-  
“Lunch!” Someone grabbed her from behind. Emma hissed and created a force field around her. It threw off her attacker and another one came at her. She created fire and blindly threw the ball of flames at the pale woman. She squealed and the third one tried to kill her. Emma magically took the woman’s body and split her apart. The first one tried to kill her again and Emma stunned her and twisted her body so that all the woman was a bundle of concrete flesh.  
Emma then took all three bodies and fused them together. You couldn’t tell them apart; they were squirming so much that it hurt Emma’s ears. Only their eyes could register anything but pain. They were dying to see who bested them.  
Emma smiled and giggled. They were horrified; they all knew that sound.  
“Now,” Emma began sweetly, “I will let you go if you answer some questions.” They blinked in reply and she disbanded the ball and gave each woman her body back while fusing them to the ground. She paced back and forth, and the women glared at her with their blood red eyes.  
“Who are you?” the first one, the brunette spat out.  
“You know,” Emma said, “I get that a lot. My name is Emma Gold.”  
All of them tried to edge back. Emma laughed in their faces. She liked the power she had over people. “And who might you be?” she continued.  
“I am Lucy,” the brunette answered, “this is Mina,” she pointed at the blonde, “and this is Quincy,” the redhead. “We are the vampire sisters.”  
“You don’t say,” Emma shot back. She giggled and took out the eyeball. “What do you know of this prophecy?” The eye communicated the prophecy.  
“We heard of it,” Lucy snapped.  
“But we didn’t think it would have happened for another thousand years,” said Mina for the first time. Lucy turned to Emma.  
“So you’re the Dark One’s daughter?”  
“Yes, what exactly do you know of him?”  
“We travelled to him, all three of us, to get him to lift our curse. But he couldn’t. Or wouldn’t,” said Quincy darkly. “After the Dark Curse was lifted off of your land, we heard he went by ‘Mr. Gold’.”  
“He laughed and said: ‘All magic comes with a price!’ and then sent us away. Apparently, the curse of Zeus is impossible to lift.”  
“What does Zeus have with any of this?”  
“I refused him. So he cursed me and my sisters,” said Lucy. Emma nodded in acknowledgment.  
“Could you lift the curse?” Mina asked.  
“And what do I get for it?” Emma asked.  
“If you lift this curse, then this castle is yours, and we will be in your debt forever.”  
“We will serve you,” said Quincy.  
“Deal,” said Emma.  
It took only a couple of days to find a way to break their curse. She had them kiss each other on the cheek, to no avail. She tried several spells; they didn’t work. She finally tried a poison berry potion, the same one that destroyed the dagger, and it worked. They still stayed immortal and their eyes were still red, but they were no longer vampires.  
They held up their end of the bargain. They served her faithfully and gave up all of their possessions, magical and otherwise.  
Emma cleaned up the meadow and began ruling the surrounding villages. She was considered a hero and everyone sung their praises to her.  
But she was still lonely. The three sisters only served her because of their deal and it meant that she had all the power for the rest of eternity. They feared and respected her, but missed their powers. With every passing year, the people around Emma grew less grateful and more resentful. Emma became darker and darker at heart and grew paler. Her eyes turned permanently red from all her crying. She abandoned the clothing from home and wore only black. Her hair even turned black from her loneliness.  
***  
They had heard of a hunter coming their way. It was against the law to hunt bats, but this person was defiant. She ordered up the three sisters to bring the hunter to her. She waited in her library flipping through some books. She heard the footsteps of the three sisters. For a thousand years, she heard them go about their business and now she could tell who was who just by the sound. There was a new step. The hunter.  
She glided over to the entrance hall. The hunter was a handsome man, tan and tall with blonde hair. He was dragged along by Lucy and Mina. Quincy went behind him. The three sisters looked up. The hunter was shouting, “I want the Dark Witch! The Evil One! I wish to speak to her!”  
She jumped down, startling him. She glided over.  
“It’s Countess to you. Countess Dracula.”


End file.
